Hidden treasure: Mississippi

Friday and Saturday on the road were pretty unremarkable.  I drove north from Miami through central Florida in a royal wedding and doughnut induced haze.  The Florida panhandle was suprisingly nice.  I camped the first night outside of Tallahasee at a noisy campground near the interstate.

On Saturday, I motored west through the rest of Florida, through coastal Alabama, and then into Mississippi.  I spent the night in Jackson, Mississippi.  Lots of driving.

Here's my mileage:
Friday 4/29: 469 miles
Saturday 4/30: 488 miles

I'm trying to be a fuel efficient as possible.  If I keep my speed under 70 and avoid air conditioning, I'm getting around 44 miles per gallon.  When I have to drive slower, I can get 47 miles per gallon.

On Sunday, I left Jackson early and joined the the Natchez Trace Parkway which is a 400 mile stretch of road which starts in Natchez, Mississippi and goes all of the way to Nashville, Tennessee.  I have wanted to see this area since reading about it, sadly, in a murder mystery.  The Parkway follows a route used for 10,000 years by Natchez, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Indians.  I drove about 150 beautiful miles on this road before exiting near Tupelo, Mississippi.

I saw herons, eagles, hawks, turtles, foxes, many mosquitoes, and very few humans.

[Starting out near a reservoir in Jackson, MS]

[This is the mosquito factory.]

[Remnants of Florida wildlife still on my car.]

[A 10 mile swath of the Parkway had clearly been hit by a recent tornado]

[80% of the trees were down in some parts]

[Tree coverage along the Parkway starts to return to normal]

[Bynum Mounds.  Choctaw Indian burial mounds dating from about 7500 years ago]

[Cicada]

I left the Parkway in Tupelo, Mississippi and headed east to the incredibly charming town of Oxford, Mississippi.  This little place is home to the University of Mississippi (aka Ole Miss) and, most importantly, Oxford is the birthplace of William Faulkner.  Faulkner returned to Oxford after World War I and lived there for the remainder of his life, primarily at Rowan Oak.  The Faulkners moved into this house in 1930.  He died in 1962.  This home is maintained by the University and open to the public.  I spent a socially inappropriate amount of time wandering around.

[Mammy Cassie's quarters.]

[Greek Revival is my favorite.  Coincidence?  I think not.]

One of the surprising things about the day was that I passed the birthplaces of Oprah (Kosciusko, MS), BB King (Indianola, MS), Mississippi John Hurt (Teoc, MS), and Jim Henson (Greenville, MS).  Hmmm... what is it about Mississippi?

From Oxford, I looped south and then west.  I arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas just as strong thunderstorms hit the area.  It rained 9-12 inches last night.  If I had been camping, I would probably not be writing you this morning.

So now I am sitting in a Starbucks in Little Rock trying to decide how to proceed.  I had wanted to drive to Hot Springs National Park but it will be raining there through tomorrow.  So, instead I am going to head north and east to Mountain View, Arkansas which is the self-proclaimed Folk Music center of the south.